Jose Rosello is in a desperate race against time to get his two-year-old son back alive. Picture: Supplied

News

Trapped toddler’s dad ‘won’t give up’

by New York Post

18th Jan 2019 7:27 AM

RESCUERS in southern Spain are racing against the clock to save a two-year-old boy who fell down a 100-metre deep well - after the discovery of his hair confirmed he was trapped inside.

The boy, Julen Rosello, disappeared on Sunday when he wandered away while his parents prepared a countryside lunch near Totalan, a town northeast of Malaga, reports the New York Post.

The parents - who in an especially tragic twist had a young son who died two years ago - suspected that Julen slipped down a narrow waterhole 25cm wide. The hair samples that rescuers took from soil inside the shaft confirmed their fears on Wednesday.

"We had a perfect view of how he fell through the hole," said dad Jose Rosello, according to BBC News.

The Rosellos' three-year-old son, Oliver, died in 2017 from heart problems during a family walk on their local beach.

Mr Rosello said that he and his wife were "heartbroken" by the long wait.

"It feels like we have been waiting for months," he told reporters. "We are not going to give up … We have the hope that an angel is going to show up for my son to come out alive."

The government's representative in the Malaga province, Maria Gamez, said DNA from Julen's hair - which was compared to DNA from a bottle he drank out of - gave rescuers "scientific evidence that the minor is there."

Emergency services look for the boy. Picture: AP

But the little boy may be stuck in a deeper section than machinery and surveillance equipment have so far been able to reach. Hardened soil and rocks believed to have been dragged down when the boy fell have blocked workers from seeing beyond 70 metres into the hole.

They have, however, spotted a small bag of lollies inside.

Workers on Thursday were busy digging two tunnels - one parallel to the well and another at a horizontal angle aiming to reach him - and carefully removing soil from the main hole.

They expected to be able to reach the deepest part within "24 to 48 hours."

Emergency services at the scene where a toddler fell down a well. Picture: AP

Meanwhile, the boy's frantic parents are holding out hope that they'll see him again telling reporters that they are praying on a miracle he'll come out alive.